Bailey Pageant Limousin
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Description
The 2009 Pageant Limousin, complete with ATC stability control, is a great fixed-bed package. We took the first one across the Pyrénées to find out more
Key Features
Model Year
2009
Product Class
Twin Axle
Price from (£)
£14925
Berths
4
Full Review
The name Limousin conjures images of a meal centring around French-bred, succulent, tender beef. That’s a good start to any holiday-picture – unless of course you’re a veggie. In which case just focus on Limousin the place, not the breed of cattle that originates there. Think campsite barbecue, think sunshine, think ease of towing a lightweight caravan for its size… You get the picture, and our on-test Bailey Pageant Limousin filled it with ample colour.
No Limousin beef for us on this tour, but we did cross the Pyrénées from Atlantic to Mediterranean during our two-week trip arranged by reservations agency Select Sites. This is how it went.
We’ve crossed the Bay of Biscay, the Limousin ensconced in the car deck of the P&O cruise-ship Pride of Bilbao. We’ve crossed the Spanish border and crossed the Pyrénées from coast to coast. And the big Limousin, through one-night stopovers, tortuous winding roads and easy motorways is every inch of the way a jewel of a caravan. Twin-axle stability gives it the edge and ATC traction control helps, of course.
It’s not only road manners that we like. When you stop for the night you’ve no bed-making to do. The Limousin has a fixed bed, full-width rear shower room, kitchen with ample workspace (especially if you don’t use the plastic removable drainer) with more surface opposite. And the parallel lounge is a delight, with LED striplights above each side window, quality-weave grey-cream, leaf-design upholstery, plain cream curtains and plain cream exceptionally deep-pile carpet…
The cream natural-looking granite-effect kitchen surface that’s repeated in the shower room basin base keys in well with the decor.
The delightful bedroom, with huge double wardrobe and plenty of shelving for shoes beneath, and slim offside shelves ideal for alarm clocks and small items, is true luxury with plenty of space.
The shower room is behind the bedroom, creating a superb en-suite arrangement, plenty of space to shower and change – and a huge full-length mirror on the offside wall. The whole bedroom-en-suite area is divisible from the living area by means of a concertina panel meeting up with a Venetian blind beside the TV area. It was in the TV-heater-additional kitchen worksurface area, though, that we found our only criticism of this otherwise exemplary caravan: perplexingly, there is an open space above the heater. It looks as if it should have been occupied by a drawer but it’s just a blank void.
The Limousin’s storage qualities are excellent, though. The under-bed capacious area is enhanced by exterior access and a tray in that area designed for wet items like cables and hoses.
This is one advantage of a side fixed bed as compared to an island bed; as the owner of an island bed model I have to report that two weeks in the Limousin, making good use of that exterior under-bed hatch, convinces me that side-beds win on practicality.
The lounge feels cosy, thanks to settee-ends that are squashy, constructed of the main upholstery and edged by hessian-type fabric and piped with shiny mock leather. Scatter cushions match – and have a flash of brilliant orange mock-suede that gives the Limousin’s soft-furnishing a focal point that sets this range distinctively apart from the myriad of fawn-cream-brown upholstery variations with which the caravan market is awash. But the Bailey attention to detail falls down a little on the curtain arrangements. The material doesn’t appear to match the excellent quality elsewhere in the caravan and, every time we towed, some of the curtains worked their way along the rails to arrive somewhere in the middle of the windows. A simple stay on the tie-backs would cure this very minor point.
On the other hand, showertime is a delight, Limousin-style. The huge washroom area is simply wonderful. It’s on the offside and occupies all of the area between the bedroom wall and the rear of the caravan. The basin is central with a cabinet underneath it and there are ample shelves above.
We filled the fridge with wonderful ingredients we found along the way during our tour – oysters, freshest tuna steaks, olives, tapenade and patisseries that are made with the sole purpose of defying your fitness regime. The whole cooking process proved to be a joy in the Limousin’s large kitchen. It’s a pretty strong recommendation of a tourer; if you’re anything like us, the eating experience is an important element of your caravan holidays.
Bailey, in the Limousin layout, gives you an haute-cuisine environment which, throughout our two-week live-in test, reminded me that large kitchens really work. The downside? Yes, there is one. I am now questioning the future of my own 2007 Sterling Elite Explorer whose kitchen can’t hold a candle to the new Limousin as it has a much smaller working surface.
I wasn’t the only caravanner who took a shine to the Limousin during our tour. When we reached Bidart, on the Atlantic coast, a 2006 Pageant owner who saw me ease the Limousin onto the pitch was quick to engage us in conversation so that he could take his first peak at the Series 7. And at Narbonne, on the Mediterranean coast, the Limousin found itself the centre of attention from another Bailey-owning couple whose eyes were caught by the brilliant blue curving side graphics. In between, a single-axle-owning British caravanner offered an “I bet that’s a struggle to tow” comment as I pulled into a campsite, only to reverse his remarks as he watched me manoeuvring it onto its pitch with ease. Proof, if proof were needed, that large caravans are not daunting to tow, or manoeuvre. And, with the ATC stability control fitted, you have the additional peace of mind that, should White Van Man whiz past you at speed and disrupt your stability, the device will gently pull you back into line. It has to be said that you’re likely to feel the effect of ATC more on single-axle models. Twins are of course inherently more stable and less likely to twitch – even so, we appreciated the extra peace of mind.
No Limousin beef for us on this tour, but we did cross the Pyrénées from Atlantic to Mediterranean during our two-week trip arranged by reservations agency Select Sites. This is how it went.
We’ve crossed the Bay of Biscay, the Limousin ensconced in the car deck of the P&O cruise-ship Pride of Bilbao. We’ve crossed the Spanish border and crossed the Pyrénées from coast to coast. And the big Limousin, through one-night stopovers, tortuous winding roads and easy motorways is every inch of the way a jewel of a caravan. Twin-axle stability gives it the edge and ATC traction control helps, of course.
It’s not only road manners that we like. When you stop for the night you’ve no bed-making to do. The Limousin has a fixed bed, full-width rear shower room, kitchen with ample workspace (especially if you don’t use the plastic removable drainer) with more surface opposite. And the parallel lounge is a delight, with LED striplights above each side window, quality-weave grey-cream, leaf-design upholstery, plain cream curtains and plain cream exceptionally deep-pile carpet…
The cream natural-looking granite-effect kitchen surface that’s repeated in the shower room basin base keys in well with the decor.
The delightful bedroom, with huge double wardrobe and plenty of shelving for shoes beneath, and slim offside shelves ideal for alarm clocks and small items, is true luxury with plenty of space.
The shower room is behind the bedroom, creating a superb en-suite arrangement, plenty of space to shower and change – and a huge full-length mirror on the offside wall. The whole bedroom-en-suite area is divisible from the living area by means of a concertina panel meeting up with a Venetian blind beside the TV area. It was in the TV-heater-additional kitchen worksurface area, though, that we found our only criticism of this otherwise exemplary caravan: perplexingly, there is an open space above the heater. It looks as if it should have been occupied by a drawer but it’s just a blank void.
The Limousin’s storage qualities are excellent, though. The under-bed capacious area is enhanced by exterior access and a tray in that area designed for wet items like cables and hoses.
This is one advantage of a side fixed bed as compared to an island bed; as the owner of an island bed model I have to report that two weeks in the Limousin, making good use of that exterior under-bed hatch, convinces me that side-beds win on practicality.
The lounge feels cosy, thanks to settee-ends that are squashy, constructed of the main upholstery and edged by hessian-type fabric and piped with shiny mock leather. Scatter cushions match – and have a flash of brilliant orange mock-suede that gives the Limousin’s soft-furnishing a focal point that sets this range distinctively apart from the myriad of fawn-cream-brown upholstery variations with which the caravan market is awash. But the Bailey attention to detail falls down a little on the curtain arrangements. The material doesn’t appear to match the excellent quality elsewhere in the caravan and, every time we towed, some of the curtains worked their way along the rails to arrive somewhere in the middle of the windows. A simple stay on the tie-backs would cure this very minor point.
On the other hand, showertime is a delight, Limousin-style. The huge washroom area is simply wonderful. It’s on the offside and occupies all of the area between the bedroom wall and the rear of the caravan. The basin is central with a cabinet underneath it and there are ample shelves above.
We filled the fridge with wonderful ingredients we found along the way during our tour – oysters, freshest tuna steaks, olives, tapenade and patisseries that are made with the sole purpose of defying your fitness regime. The whole cooking process proved to be a joy in the Limousin’s large kitchen. It’s a pretty strong recommendation of a tourer; if you’re anything like us, the eating experience is an important element of your caravan holidays.
Bailey, in the Limousin layout, gives you an haute-cuisine environment which, throughout our two-week live-in test, reminded me that large kitchens really work. The downside? Yes, there is one. I am now questioning the future of my own 2007 Sterling Elite Explorer whose kitchen can’t hold a candle to the new Limousin as it has a much smaller working surface.
I wasn’t the only caravanner who took a shine to the Limousin during our tour. When we reached Bidart, on the Atlantic coast, a 2006 Pageant owner who saw me ease the Limousin onto the pitch was quick to engage us in conversation so that he could take his first peak at the Series 7. And at Narbonne, on the Mediterranean coast, the Limousin found itself the centre of attention from another Bailey-owning couple whose eyes were caught by the brilliant blue curving side graphics. In between, a single-axle-owning British caravanner offered an “I bet that’s a struggle to tow” comment as I pulled into a campsite, only to reverse his remarks as he watched me manoeuvring it onto its pitch with ease. Proof, if proof were needed, that large caravans are not daunting to tow, or manoeuvre. And, with the ATC stability control fitted, you have the additional peace of mind that, should White Van Man whiz past you at speed and disrupt your stability, the device will gently pull you back into line. It has to be said that you’re likely to feel the effect of ATC more on single-axle models. Twins are of course inherently more stable and less likely to twitch – even so, we appreciated the extra peace of mind.
Our Verdict
The 2009 Bailey Pageant Limousin is a lightweight caravan for its size. It has the stability asset of twin axles plus the ATC stability control system for good measure
Advantages
ATC stability control
Twin axles
Twin axles
Light weight for its length
Fixed bed
ATC stability control
Disadvantages
cons
A strange open space above the heater
A strange open space above the heater
Nothing to hold curtains in place to the sides of the windows on tow
